You probably don't know who the hell Anne Fletcher is.
Don't feel bad. No one else does.
But I'm going to take this opportunity to acknowledge a woman who is single-handledly bitch slapping America and turning profits like General Motors. And yes, that analogy was incredibly witty and topical.
The point is, Anne Fletcher is a boss. This chick apparently got her start as a choreographer on a ton of a films, ranging from the dance scenes in Along Came Polly and Bringing Down The House, to coordinating sequences in Catwoman. Her IMDb profile is friggin' extensive.
Fletcher took her eye for movement and translated it into a career in directing, beginning with the 2006 motion picture Step Up. She followed Step Up with the equally impactful Katherine Heigl vehicle 27 Dresses. And then followed that masterpiece up with this year's summer romantic comedy hit, The Proposal, which just won the weekend box office with an estimated $34 million.
Now, for those of you with taste, you'll probably look at that list of films and think, "Anne Fletcher is just another hack female director making hack female films with hack female stories." And, to a degree, you'd be pretty darn accurate.
But take a trip over to the fine folks at Box Office Mojo, and you'll come upon a startling fact: Anne Fletcher's films are fucking profitable.
Step Up had an estimated budget of $12 million. The film made $114 million worldwide. 27 Dresses had an estimated budget of $30 million, an obvious increase for Fletcher after her success with Step Up. The result? $160 million worldwide. Now comes The Proposal. Budgeted at an estimated $40 million, the film just made $34 million in its opening weekend, putting it on pace to make in the neighborhood of at least $75-100 million, not counting the foreign gross. And keep in mind, this isn't even taking into account the gross from DVD sales.
The point is, Anne Fletcher is making movies that make money. So the question I have is this: is Anne Fletcher doing something right? Has she stumbled upon the Holy Grail of Box Office Potency? Will she ever make a movie that's certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes?
Either way, I'm happy for Fletcher. A female director this bankable is a damn good thing in Hollywood. And with Catherine Hardwicke establishing a bigger name for herself after Twilight, are we looking at the beginning of a golden age for mainstream female filmmakers?
You go girls!
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